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EMN or AIQUY: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?

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Investors interested in Chemical - Diversified stocks are likely familiar with Eastman Chemical (EMN - Free Report) and Air Liquide (AIQUY - Free Report) . But which of these two stocks is more attractive to value investors? We'll need to take a closer look to find out.

The best way to find great value stocks is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with an impressive grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank is a proven strategy that targets companies with positive earnings estimate revision trends, while our Style Scores work to grade companies based on specific traits.

Eastman Chemical has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy), while Air Liquide has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now. This system places an emphasis on companies that have seen positive earnings estimate revisions, so investors should feel comfortable knowing that EMN is likely seeing its earnings outlook improve to a greater extent. But this is just one piece of the puzzle for value investors.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

Our Value category highlights undervalued companies by looking at a variety of key metrics, including the popular P/E ratio, as well as the P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that have been used by value investors for years.

EMN currently has a forward P/E ratio of 13.87, while AIQUY has a forward P/E of 26.63. We also note that EMN has a PEG ratio of 1.86. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. AIQUY currently has a PEG ratio of 6.18.

Another notable valuation metric for EMN is its P/B ratio of 2.40. The P/B is a method of comparing a stock's market value to its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, AIQUY has a P/B of 3.74.

Based on these metrics and many more, EMN holds a Value grade of B, while AIQUY has a Value grade of C.

EMN has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than AIQUY, so it seems like value investors will conclude that EMN is the superior option right now.


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